Doctoral studies
Our faculty offers postgraduate education for students pursuing doctoral degrees in Education or Philosophy. A doctoral degree consists of independent research, that is, a dissertation and studies that support conducting a dissertation. A doctoral degree can be completed either as a full-time or part-time student. As a full-time doctoral student, it is possible to apply to become a paid researcher at our faculty or apply for different kinds of grants to fund your research.
More information on doctoral studies can be found on the university’s Doctoral School webpage, as well as on our faculty’s doctoral study guide.
Apply for doctoral studies
Writing a dissertation requires you to have a right to pursue doctoral studies. As a rule, the application period for doctoral studies is open twice a year.
When you are starting to consider doctoral studies, we recommend you contact the professor whose area of expertise is the closest to your research topic and discuss your research topic and plan as well as other postgraduate studies with them. If you are unsure of who to contact when you are planning your application, you can use our Research Portal to find suitable researchers. You can also contact the Doctoral School or the Head of Academic Affairs at the faculty. We need information about your preliminary research topic to arrange a discussion with a professor, so please tell us about your topic already when you contact us.
More information on applying and timetables can be found on the university’s Doctoral School website. Explore our faculty’s doctoral study guide beforehand.
Doctoral programmes
As a doctoral researcher, you are part of one faculty and one doctoral programme.
The contents of the discipline-specific doctoral programme are determined by the faculty’s postgraduate degree requirements. However, doctoral students part of a discipline-specific doctoral programme can also choose studies from the Doctoral School’s course selection.
A thematic doctoral programme contains a multidisciplinary, thematic study package worth 20 credits. Additionally, the topic of the dissertation must be connected to the theme of the programme.
Doctoral School
The Doctoral School of our university supports the faculties’ researcher training by organising joint studies aimed at all doctoral students of all faculties. Additionally, the Doctoral School organises events aimed at doctoral students and supervisors, creates infopacks and maintains mailing lists.
The Doctoral School organises joint studies for all doctoral students at the University of Lapland, formally known as Philosophy of research and research skills studies (20 credits).
Get to know the Doctoral School
Internships for doctoral students
Doctoral students are eligible to apply to receive a €1500 voucher for an internship that lasts one to two months (€750 per month) as part of the TUKO1284 course at the Doctoral School. The voucher can be applied for between 1 November and 30 November by sending a free-form application to the Administrative Manager of the faculty.
Search criteria and selection
The internship is primarily intended for doctoral students that have gotten past the halfway of their dissertation. If there are more applicants than vouchers, the stage of one’s doctoral studies is used as a selection criterion. The faculty decides on granting the voucher within a month after the application period. The students are directly informed of the decision. The voucher must be used within the next year following the decision. If the voucher is not used, it must be immediately reported.
After receiving an approving decision on the voucher, the doctoral student must form a contract with an employer and agree on employment. The employer will invoice the faculty for the voucher according to the invoicing instructions.